What If…? Venom #1: Big, Mean and Green

What If…? Venom #1 requires some careful maneuvering to avoid retreading the territory already covered in last year’s Extreme Venomverse limited series. While the latter was a crossover bringing together pre-established Venom variants from throughout the multiverse, What If…? seeks to take the symbiote into unexplored hypotheticals. Except the ambition of said hypothetical turns out to be quite modest as the limitless potential behind the titular question is once again whittled down to, “What if Character A became Character B?”

The sensational She-Hulk herself, Jennifer Walters, is walking home one night and stumbles upon a person in need. It is none other than Eddie Brock, reeling in depression and self-pity after losing his job. Filled with hatred for Peter Parker and having nothing left to lose, Brock is ready to end it all. Jennifer intervenes and, in doing so, becomes the prime target of the symbiote oozing down the cathedral’s bell tower.

Combined, the She-Hulk becomes a venomous, verdant bogeyman who stalks the alleys of New York for prey. Jennifer is but a nighttime vessel for the alien, leaving her utterly exhausted during the day. Years pass and she has become a jobless, depressed vagrant still doing her best to be an anti-hero.

The story is written with a straight-forward approach, not interested in examining the butterfly effect that this role swap would have on grander Marvel history. Walters’ civilian friends and superhero allies are oddly absent as well, leaving room for only minimal angst and character drama. But what it lacks in substance, the comic makes up for in style, since it doubles as a gallery for Jesus Hervas’ phenomenal venomized She-Hulk design. Giant to begin with, she becomes a truly gargantuan spectacle with the symbiote’s donation of height and muscle mass. Her darker yet still vivid shades of green and purple contrast well against the murky New York setting, and her mess of tendrils-for-hair seems to defy gravity as she stomps through the city.

The issue ramps up into a brawl with fellow savage beast Sabretooth. Being lawful good, Jennifer is able to wrestle back control from the symbiote just long enough to protect innocents; a more complex dynamic than Brock, who fully gave into Venom’s depravity at the time. As they fling each other against skyscrapers, readers are treated to drawings of Hervas’ stellar jade giantess from just about every angle, and it’s a glorious compensation for the comic’s shortcomings.